Could there be a crash coming in 2017? Will increasing interest rates at the Federal Reserve trigger the beginning of the end?

It is possible, but not certain.

It will fall, perhaps, after a new sense of normal sets in, and some become comfortable with the change in leadership, and accustomed to drowning out the opposition yelling noisily from the other side. Expectations have been set for a growing economy, fresh infrastructure and new hopes for the average worker.

But getting too comfortable would be a huge mistake. All that could prove to be a mirage. And things could come crashing down.

Now that Donald Trump has been inaugurated as the 45th President, all eyes will be on his first 100 days as he demonstrates what kind of president he will be, and his cabinet takes action. But even with the best intentions and carefully laid plans, there is no telling at this point how firmly he will be tested, and what kind of crisis America will have to endure during his first term. Wars, terror attacks, civil unrest, debt crisis and financial collapse all loom overhead.

Many have seen dark signals about the immediate future, but no one can claim to know the timing.

However, former Wall Street banker and now best selling critic of the predatory financial system Nomi Prins sees the pattern unfolding, and fears that the end of 2017 may be the time that everyone has been watching for. At the center of it is the whiplash effect of Federal Reserve stimulus-withdrawal (i.e. rate hikes and the contraction of easy money).

Former top Wall Street banker and best-selling author Nomi Prins correctly predicted no financial crash for 2016. Prins’ upcoming book is titled “Artisans of Money.” It is all about central bank money creation. What does Prins say about this year? Prins predicts, “In 2016, I pegged the non-crash. . . . Central bankers were finding new ways to extend their money creation policies. That is what kept the markets up.

There was a separate bid on the markets after Trump was elected. It was on the expectation that he would be good for growth, that he would be good for infrastructure and that he would create jobs. I do think there is a little juice in the central banks. I keep thinking there shouldn’t be, but they keep surprising all of us with their ability to boost the markets. They have artificially stimulated so many different asset bubbles, whether it’s debt, which is epic, or stock markets, many of which are at historic highs. If we have a crash, it will be in the second half of 2017. The promises, the rate hikes, the dollar being high could collapse into the realities of the stability and this artificialness. I am not sure about a crash this year, but if we see a big decline, it will be in the last quarter.”

Prins foresees gold prices surging during this last quarter period of instability. Those who’ve been eating sinking gold prices may find some relief once again, but the larger economic system is in danger of crashing and burning, and the possibility that the dollar will lose out:

“I think with the expectation of things going well, the dollar will be keeping a bit of a bid. It will be within a range but staying fairly up. I think the dollar will turn around and weaken in the second half of the year. . . .That’s why, in the last half of the year, gold will catch more of a bid.”

Prins discussed the alliance between Russia and China and what is about to unfold geopolitically.

“Because Russia, Putin’s very smart. He’s not just waiting to see what happens with Trump and the U.S. You know, there’s been very favorable rhetoric so far, but, you know, that could be a wild card. Things could be changed.

Someone could get annoyed at someone else. So what he’s been doing, he’s been fortifying his relationship with Eastern Europe, his relationships with the UK, with Japan and particularly his relationship with China and the non-Russia BRICS countries. So all of this will be in flux…”

According to Nomi Prins, the crash wouldn’t be so much an immediate headline flashing-event, as it would be a steady decline and gradual sinking to the bottom.